TCDB 2 for Tuesday #101

I did not plan to post today, but I have about an hour to kill before dinner is ready so I thought what better way to pass the time than to write about cards.  This one will be short and sweet though so let's get to it.  First trade package came from member GoldenEagle555.

I have lost track of all the forms of Allen & Ginter.  Regular, Chrome, these X cards, and who knows what else.  Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing?

The Cardinals may be starting a different Nolan at the hot corner in 2025.  If Arenado gets traded, Gorman could see a lot of playing time there is he learns how to make more contact.  His power is for real, but it is hard to put someone in the lineup if he strikes out 40% of the time.

The second trade package came from member SirNailhead.

My 2001 Topps Archives team set is now complete.  This was a fun 28 card set to put together.  Lots of great names like Musial, Smith, Flood, and Boyer in this one.

A trio of random needs, two from 2023 and one from 2021.  Walker is the only one still with St. Louis.  Maybe 2025 is the year the Cardinals let him play everyday to see what he can really do.  He may not be a 35 home run , 100 RBI guy, but I think he can be a solid everyday player.  Just not sure where he fits in the field.  He is not the greatest outfielder, and I am not sure the Cardinals trust him going back to third base.

I wish everyone a safe and merry Christmas.  May Santa bring you everything you wished for.

  

Card Show Recap

My son and I made our annual trip to a December card show on Saturday. I always have luck finding good deals before Christmas; this year was no exception. We decided to make the 2.5-hour drive to St. Louis early Saturday and arrived at the show shortly after the doors opened.  

It was nice to have plenty of time to browse all the tables.  We spent about three hours going through a few bargain boxes but mostly looking at vintage cards.  My son was a big help in checking my want list while I was looking for the cards.  I spent a little less than $60 with four different dealers.

This was the lone Altuve card my son came home with.  We found a few others he needed, but were unwilling to pay the prices.  We have seen an increase in his prices at the last few shows.  After 14 years in the league, I think collectors are starting to realize he has a good chance of making the Hall of Fame.

We did not find any dime boxes, but we did discover some quarter boxes.  This dealer only had one 1600 count box.  I was thrilled to find the last 1972 Topps high number for my team set.  It is not gem mint, but it is very close.   The Cepeda is an upgrade to my copy, while the bottom two cards are trade bait.  

     
The next dealer had vintage sets in binders sorted by year.  They ranged from 1951 Bowman to 1974 Topps.  Some cards were in rough shape, but I did find these three to cross off my Cardinals want list.  The 1966 Uecker was a nice find for less than $5.  It has a couple of soft corners, but fits great in collection.  The other two are in excellent condition.

I spent almost an hour at this dealer's tables.  I have bought from him before.  He deals in nothing after 1975, with most of the cards in mint condition.  All eight of these have no creases and four sharp corners.  Two are a little off-center, but other than that, they are perfect.  The 1965 Bob Skinner is a short print.  The Gagliano leaves me one card shy of completing the 1968 Topps team set.  

    

    

3 Pack from The Bench

Last week, I completed my fifth trade this year on the Bench website.  This was the first online site I traded on.  Back in the early days, I would complete 15-20 trades each month.  Most of the members I traded with back then are gone.  I will visit the site most days but only open a few posts as quite a few members are only looking for the latest and greatest.  Gone are the days of team collectors dominating the site.  

There are still some good members on the site; I just do not have much they are looking for.  Member millo67 found a couple of cards he needed from my EBAY numbered lot and sent me 3 Cardinals in return.  

I have a few photo variations in my collection.  Most are the active player variety, like this 2018 Topps Update Jordan Hicks.  

I hope Goldschmidt signs with a team that will give him a chance to get to the World Series.  He was a great player during his time in St. Louis up until last year.  Great guy off the field also.  I admired how he played the game, not showboating or causing other headlines for the wrong reasons.

This mini arrived before the big lot I showed off on Monday.  It now sits in a stack, with the rest waiting to be filed away, hopefully this weekend. 

        

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #100

A few months ago, I was hoping to get to post #100 in this series before the end of the year.  I made it with 2 weeks to spare.  Good thing, as the next couple of Tuesdays will be a little hectic.  Gotta get those holiday parties in.   Today's first trade package came from member rustypetty.

This group of 2024 Topps inserts includes 2 former Cardinal first basemen and a future one.  Contreras is moving from catcher to first base in 2025 to fill the void of Goldschmidt.  The defense will take a hit, but the offense may be a little better.   

I have a slight man crush on Victor Scott.  He reminds me of my first favorite Cardinal, Vince Coleman.  He will fight with Michael Siani for the starting centerfield job next year.  Nothing against Siani, but I hope Scott gets the bulk of the playing time.

The second package came from member wmwynn1967.

Flaherty is the best available free agent starter behind Corbin Burnes.  He should cash in nicely with a three or four year deal.

I have not added very many 1990s inserts or parallels lately.  Stottlemyre is a 1997 Score Hobby Reserve parallel, while the Drew is from the 1999 SP Authentic Home Run Chronicles insert set.  He was the second biggest story for the Cardinals in 1998, behind the McGwire home run chase.

My son is still finding Altuve base cards from the last few years that he does not have.  They make great trade fillers.    

  

    

Mini Madness

Not too long ago, I often wrote about my disdain for irregular-sized cards, both big and small.  They are more difficult to ship safely, and storing them has always been a problem for me.  My oversized cards are in a shoe box, while the minis are put into a penny sleeve and filed in the proper monster box.  That does not sound like much of a pain, but the neat freak in me likes to see all my cards stored one way.  

My stance on these cards has softened. Over time, I have grown to tolerate the mini cards to the point that I actively seek them. I have even added quite a few minis to my team set wants on TCDB.  That led to one of my largest trades a couple of weeks ago with member mlsalin.  I traded him 35 numbered cards from my EBAY lot for 58 Cardinals, many of the mini variety.  

The lot included 10 different Gypsy Queen minis.  Highlights include two Gypsy Queen backs from 2012 and a 2014 Shelby Miller short print.

I added 27 new Allen & Ginter minis to my collection from 2007 to 2023.  Quite a few of them were the A&G backs.  The 2023 Rolen is a short print.

These are not quite as small as the other minis.  The top row is from 2011 Topps Lineage, while the Renteria is a 2003 Bazooka card.  

The regular-sized portion of the trade features 3 gold parallels.  

There were three numbered blue parallels from 2014 Topps Opening Day. 

Two nice color match Stadium Club red parallels.

Two horizontal inserts and another red parallel.

I am always a sucker for Hall of Fame players.  The Dean photo is a great one.

Speaking of great ones, here is the second-greatest Cardinal ever.  I doubt if anyone will ever top Stan Musial.  

My son added two Altuve inserts to his collection.  Nolan Ryan is on the other side of the Evolution card.  

 

  
          

16th New Lankford of 2024

It has been over two months since I added a new Ray Lankford card to my collection. Thanks to Panini's inclusion of him in the recently released Impeccable brand, I now have four new cards to chase.  I crossed one of them off the list last week.

This is the Holo Gold version of the Indelible Ink autograph card.  The other versions are numbered to 49, 25, and a one of one.  This card came up on EBAY at a good time for me, as I had $20 in gift cards to use.    
     

Almost Like Yesterday

I had several different stacks of cards to choose from to scan for today's post. After grabbing a random stack and scanning it, I realized the cards were very similar to the ones I posted on Tuesday. TCDB member b14rebel also included a couple of other cards.

Yesterday, I showed three 2024 Stadium Club cards; today, I have seven more. The Pujols card is the photo winner in this group. Topps did a great job of including the iconic arch design of the Busch Stadium upper deck.

Just like Tuesday, here is another McGwire insert. This one appears to show Mac taking a current call after hitting a home run, which he did quite a few times in St. Louis.

I have been slow to add any 2024 Allen & Ginter cards to my collection.  This Ozzie Smith is one of the two Cardinal short prints in the set.  I attended the game where Metro Boomin threw out the first pitch and had a bobblehead giveaway.  I cannot say I had heard of him before that night.  Guess that is showing my age.